AlpVision's iPhone Tech Offers Authentication in War on Counterfeits

In the war against counterfeits, regulators have concentrated on serialisation and ePedigree and missed an opportunity on product authentication, according to AlpVision.

The company was at this year’s Interphex and Regional Manager Quincy Mattingly spoke to in-Pharmatechnologist.com regarding its new mobile authentication solution for pharmaceutical anti-counterfeiting.

Mattingley said his company’s technology was being used by some of the top 50 pharma companies in emerging markets such as Africa and Asia.

The system uses an iPhone to detect AlpVision's Cryptoglyph and Fingerprint covert safety features, the former relying on invisible markings on packaging and the latter based on digital images of the original product stored in a secure server.

This is not the first time mobile phones have been used in the fight against counterfeit drugs. A scheme led by GlaxoSmithKline in Nigeria​ was implemented in 2011 to send users a confirmation code of drug authenticity by text message.

However, Mattingly told us there is a danger this SMS verification code “could be copied by counterfeiters”​ as it is a visible form of authentication, whilst AlpVision’s technology proposes a verification process that requires no visible markings, additional consumables, special reading devices or production changes other than a smartphone.

When asked about his views on ePedigree, the ongoing track-and-trace legislation​, Mattingly said he thought regulators have “missed a mark on product authentication because serialisation doesn’t guarantee that your product is authentic.”​